Thursday Things: Walk This Way Edition
2 March 2023. Vol 5 No 9. By Dan McGirt. #186
Welcome to Thursday Things! If you enjoy this edition, please click the heart icon in the header or at the end of the post to let me know.
Does this picture have any connection to the content of this issue? Guess you’ll have to read it and find out! Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash
Get Moving!
The more I learn about health and how to maintain it, the more I realize that many of the factors that determine our physical and mental health are within our control, through the habits and lifestyle choices we make. I’m also more and more aware that the mind-body connection is powerful. Our mental state and physical state are closely tied together and one can affect the other, for good or ill.
Here is some more support for that notion:
Exercise is more effective than medication for mental health: study
A run a day keeps the depression away.
Researchers from the University of South Australia have discovered regular exercise may be more effective than medication for the treatment of mental illness, such as depression.
Published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the study used 97 reviews, 1,039 and 128,119 participants, marking it as one of the most extensive pieces of research to date. Based on their findings, they concluded that exercise improved symptoms of depression and anxiety.
“Physical activity is known to help improve mental health. Yet despite the evidence, it has not been widely adopted as a first-choice treatment,” lead researcher Dr. Ben Singh said in a statement.
The sheer beneficial power of simply taking a walk is vastly underrated.
Read the study in British Journal of Sports Medicine here: Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews
Conclusion and relevance Physical activity is highly beneficial for improving symptoms of depression, anxiety and distress across a wide range of adult populations, including the general population, people with diagnosed mental health disorders and people with chronic disease. Physical activity should be a mainstay approach in the management of depression, anxiety and psychological distress.
Keep on moving!
Happy and healthy Thursday Things subscribers. Photo by Luke Porter on Unsplash
Don’t Open It!
Remember a few years ago when they found that mysterious black sarcophagus in Egypt and, like a bunch of dopes, opened it? And what has happened in the world since then? Oh, nothing bad. Just pandemics and wars and massive earthquakes. The usual stuff that happens when scientists go messing around with ancient tombs that were sealed for a reason.
Well, at least they learned their lesson, right?
Scientists reveal hidden corridor in Great Pyramid of Giza
CAIRO (Reuters) -A hidden corridor nine metres (30 feet) long has been discovered close to the main entrance of the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid of Giza, and this could lead to further findings, Egyptian antiquities officials said on Thursday.
Sigh.
The unfinished corridor was likely created to redistribute the pyramid's weight around either the main entrance now used by tourists, almost seven metres away, or around another as yet undiscovered chamber or space, said Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
As an aside, I would love to have “Supreme Council of Antiquities” on my letterhead. That’s just awesome name.
“Hi, where do you work?”
“Oh, just a little office at the Supreme Council of Antiquities.”
Back to our story:
"We're going to continue our scanning so we will see what we can do ... to figure out what we can find out beneath it, or just by the end of this corridor," he told reporters after a press conference in front of the pyramid.
Please don’t.
Coming soon. Because you know they’re going to open it. Photo by Gaurav D Lathiya on Unsplash
Trillions and Trillions
Who will be the first trillionaire? And when?
Just to spot you up, here are the people with fortunes at over $100B as of yesterday:
Bernard Arnault $209B
Elon Musk $194B
Jeff Bezos $115B
Larry Ellison $111B
Warren Buffet $106B
Bill Gates $104B
From this list, I think only Musk and maybe Bezos are real contenders to reach $1 trillion first. If Elon figures out how to mine an asteroid full of platinum, or even nickel, that would do it.
More likely, the future trillionaire out there is someone not widely known yet, who will make their fortune on the basis of some new technology not yet developed.
This article, Who will become the world’s first trillionaire?, also touts Musk as the favorite to hit $1T first. Although the prediction of him doing so by 2024 seems a bit optimistic.
I'd say we could see a trillionaire, whether Musk or someone else, within 10 years, and definitely in 20, just by the power of compounding already massive fortunes.
Unless WWIII or the robot uprising happens1, in which case all bets are off.
Who will be the world’s first trillionaire? Your guess is as good as mine.
All I know is it probably won’t be me!
I’m lucky to be a thousandaire. Photo by Pepi Stojanovski on Unsplash
Thank you for reading!
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Or an ancient Egyptian pharaoh’s curse.